Love4Gambia from our Rocking Chair

This Monday marked the beginning of the Love4Gambia 2012 run. One week shy of the one year anniversary of my run across The Gambia, with my team, Pa Modou, Kebba and Spider at her side, Ottawa runner Andrea Moritz took her first steps from the cinder block in a farm field on the border of Senegal on the 424km journey to the Atlantic Ocean. I’d been waiting for this moment since Andrea accepted the challenge of running across the Gambia last fall. I’ve been full of anticipation for her and gratitude for the generous people who have donated to the NSGA (making the mission of saving lives with the run a reality. And I’ve been wondering how I would feel.

I haven’t blogged since March 20, a month prior to the birth of our daughter. As I prepared for Love4Gambia 2012, I realized that I had words finally ready for writing. And with a now 2 month old baby, each day is sunnier and I’m finally ready for my blogging keyboard.

I watched online as Andrea traveled to The Gambia and on Friday, read a post from Pa Modou saying, “We are going to the airport to pick up our runner.”

Emotion punched me in the face when I read this. “Our runner.” I was “our runner.” As a new mom, child-related metaphors are within close reach. I wondered if this is what the firstborn child feels like when her parents bring a new baby, a second child, home. She might feel a similar mix of envy and dismay as she realizes that she has to share her parents love and her place in the world with another human.

These emotions where fleeting though. I read them on my iPhone as I rocked my perfect baby girl. With my sweet babe in my arms, I thought about my feelings and clarity arose as the envy dissipated.

Love4Gambia was my idea but it was never my run. And it was never about me. Just like “our runner” doesn’t belong to me, the run doesn’t belong to me. The run belongs to The Gambia. It belongs to the indomitable spirit of the South Bank Road; to the hardworking women farmers; to the bright and eager school kids; to the the toddlers chasing the school kids; to the mothers with babies on their backs; to Pa Modou, Kebba and the incredible NSGA staff who work so hard for a brighter, healthier tomorrow for Gambians.

By running this year, Andrea is keeping the Love4Gambia dream alive but the run doesn’t belong to her either.

On Sunday, as the team relaxed on the beach in The Gambia, my family relaxed on my native PEI. I went for a long run and purposely chose a route that would bring me through rural farm country- so similar to The Gambia. While I was running, I closed eyes (on a safe, empty stretch of road) for a few strides. I could feel Kebba’s stride in sync with mine, smiling and chiding me to stop asking so many questions. I could picture Pa on horn, belting out Akon. I could see Spider singing and dancing on the road up ahead and hear Ashley singing Bryan Adams next to me.

While run never belonged to me, what it left onside me, what I walked away from Atlantic Ocean and the South Bank Road with will belong to me forever.

Now my daughter and I will watch my team and Andrea, “their runner,” charge to the Atlantic Ocean in Banjul from our rocking chair.

There is no place in the world I’d rather be.

Up next on my blog (when I have free hands long enough to type): labour and delivery ARE similar to marathon racing

How to be Strong

This week, a friend named Wendy invited me to speak with a group of first-time marathoners that she coaches.  I decided that I would talk about what helped me manage running 25km for 17 days in Africa: how I stayed strong, how I managed the heat and how I dealt with setbacks.  Another friend asked me to do the same with our school’s hockey team in September.  I coach 2 teams myself so figured I should capture my musings for future use. Here goes.

The Heat

It was really hot in The Gambia. Like between 37 and 42 degrees hot.  But the heat never impacted my running performance because I chose not to let it. The heat just was. I needed to run whether or not it was hot so I just didn’t think about it.

Sometimes after I explain this, people will say, “oh, so the heat wasn’t that bad.” I explain that that wasn’t it at all. It was very hot; 42 degrees is very hot.  It’s 107.6 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was so hot that my hair and skin were often dry despite sweating like crazy. The heat would dry the sweat right away. It was so hot that 2 pairs of my sneakers melted because the air temperature was so hot and because the heat made the asphalt so hot.

I couldn’t do anything about the heat. I had a 25km goal each day, regardless of the air temperature. I had no control over the heat. But I did have control over how I responded to and dealt with the heat. I coped with the heat by not even considering the heat.  I never, ever considered that the heat might cause me to stop running because there was so way I was going to stop running. Stopping was never in the realm of options.

Managing 42 degree heat was all about being strong.  The human body will allow you to be strong enough if you will it to be strong enough.

I was also doing everything possible to allow my body to run well in the heat. I was super careful with nutrition and had a team of 4 incredibly caring people keeping tabs on how much I was eating and drinking. I was drinking 5 litres of fluid over 25km of running; 3L of it was gatorade.  I weighed myself before and after every run to make sure my hydration plan was sufficient. If you’ve ever tried to push 5 litres into your stomach, you know that it’s a lot!  But it was what was required to survive and run so that’s what I did.

The rest of the day, back at our base camp (where ever that may be) was very very hot. I would shower and put on underwear/pajamas instead of clothes.  My whole team was wearing underwear instead of clothes.  If I wanted to, say, braid my hair and take out my contact lenses, I would have to separate these activities by 5 minutes because it was too hot to do them back-to-back.

If your race is hot, be smart, drink water and be assured that the human body can survive in the heat if you choose to be strong enough to survive.

Familiarity Breeds Comfort

In one of my favorite running blogs, “The Logic of Long Distance,” blogger Jeff writes:

“Familiarity breeds comfort, and though I feel pain, I get better at controlling my reaction to it.”

This was a very true phenomenon on the road to Banjul.

Erin + Ashley at the start of Day 3

In my assessment, the worst that I felt was beginning the first 20km run on Day 3.  It was my 3^rd day of running 25km per day. I had put 50km on my legs in the past 48 hours. When I began to run that day, I was stiff and sore from toes to hips.  And my shoulders ached from being in runner’s stride for so many hours out of the previous 48.  Although that morning, I knew that the stiffness and soreness would fade within 2 or 3km as my forward running motion circulated fresh blood to my objecting muscles.  I did feel better.  By km 3, I was running comfortably.

Insightful blogger Jeff also writes:

“Long distance running requires endurance, by which we mean the ability to suffer.”

Looking back, although I name Day 3 as the worst day for my legs, I think that I actually felt like that every single day.  But from Day 3 on I expected it; I was prepared for it; I knew it would go away; and I knew that I would run through it no matter what.

It was never dangerous pain. I hurt in an acceptable way. My legs were fatigued from hard work. I never had any “oh shit” injured parts. Some mornings, I would still be sore at km 2 so we would run until 15 minutes passed and then we would do a full set of track warm up drills and I would feel better after that.

I also helped my team run through expected discomfort. None of my teammates, Ashley, Pa Modou, Kebba and Spider, had ever run like this before: day after day after day. I helped them accept that there would be pain.  I helped them embrace it, get past it and get on with it.

In fact, I almost had it easier than my teammates did.  I was never going to give up and get into the truck.  But Pa, Ashley, Kebba and Spider always had the option of getting back into the support truck.  They had to be strong against a voice that I never had to deal with.  The voice that whispers “Look at the truck, all nice and run-free. Don’t you want to stop and get into the truck?”  My team stayed very strong next to me for many, many kilometers.

By Day 13, my quads and hip flexors were tired and remained tired until we reached the ocean.  And by Day 13, I was sore at rest pretty much all the time but it was a happy, hard work sore and I just accepted it.

From Day 3 on, I couldn’t sleep in my favorite position because my legs refused to bend in bed. By Day 13, it became impossible to find a comfortable position for my legs in bed and those legs exacted their revenge on their owner by preventing sleep.  I would rely on sleeping pills at night.  Although it’s not fair to blame the sleeping pill reliance purely on leg soreness.  Sleeping pills were also important because it was often 32 degrees at night with no electricity and no fan.

All of the discomfort that I felt on the road to Banjul was both familiar and expected and I knew that I wasn’t putting myself or my muscles in danger so we would continue running each day.  The human body can do it.

During your marathon, be prepared to receive messages from your body and your brain.  These messages will tell you: “We are tired. We hurt. We want to stop.” Be prepared to deal with these messages and push through it. Has this happened to you in training?  Good!  It’ll breed familiarity. Hold onto that experience as evidence that you can get through it.

Managing Setbacks: Figure out what works

Setbacks pop up.  You have no control over them.  I wouldn’t even call them “unexpected setbacks” because setbacks are expected.  I ran 25km for 17 days and honestly, the remarkable days were the ones that were unremarkable. These were the days where all parts of the runner’s body and the team were smooth.

I managed a number of obstacles:

• On Day 5, my guts refuse to accept Gatorade and energy gels during the first 20km run

• On Day 6, kilometer markers appeared on the South Bank Road, announcing that I was 280km fromBanjul, filling me with waves of anxiety about how far I had to run.

• On Day 7, my setback was emotional, not physical. I was my birthday and I was lonely and missed my family

• On Day 9, I poisoned myself with water from a tap and had terrible cramping diarrhea and couldn’t take a lot of gatorade or gels.  It was hot and I was getting weak.

• On Day 13, Ashley was sick in bed and the rest of the team was down. I had an intense and persistent “I don’t want to run” feeling.  Part of my brain was trying desperately to hit the “off” switch to cease running operation.

• On Day 14, I didn’t want to run. I knew that I would do it, I just didn’t want to.

• On Day 15, we didn’t have enough food and I was hungry.  We were in place that food was hard to get. I was cranky. Then my breasts chafed really badly. Then our destination disappeared and I had to run an unexpected extra 5km pushing my daily total to 30km while hungry with a chafed chest.

• On Day 16, we ran 6km down the yellow centre line in the middle of the highway, surrounded by insane, angry traffic

I managed all of these setbacks.  On the 2 days I was ill, I knew that when the run ended, I could recover by eating and sleeping the rest of the day.  I knew that I wasn’t physically harming myself by running through it so I pushed through it by being strong.

When my breasts chafed, I hurt a lot. I knew that I couldn’t give in to hurting. If I knew that if I could focus enough, I could get the pain under my sports bra to go away. If I can focus hard enough on just running, I have the ability to just run and tune everything else out.  So that’s what I did.

Focus got me through my emotional setbacks too.  On Day 7, I told Kebba (who was running next to me) that I wasn’t going to talk to him for the next 20 minutes. “I’m not happy or sad, I’m just running,” I told him.  Kebba replied, “That’s ok, I have many exciting thoughts in my head!”  I zoned out and just ran.  I made my mind go blank. Running was all I was focused on.  And I recovered.

On Day 13 when I didn’t want to run, I used my “rope.” My team loved my saying to tie a figurative rope to the runner next to you and let him/her pull you along. That day, I looked at the kids who were running with us and I tied my rope around them and I did it.

The kids, mamas and soldiers were hugely helpful for my team and me.  My legs matched my mood out there on the road in The Gambia.  Like I said, we often hurt or were tired. But each time we were joined by children and youth, all traces of fatigue and pain vanished.  We were running for these kids, for NSGA programs that impact their lives. With them running next to us, we felt like we could fly.  When a convoy of soldiers saluted me, it was impossible not to have my spirit soar.  When my spirit soared, so did my legs.  When 70 year old Mamas in rice fields hugged me, high fived me, laughed with me, expressed their gratitude to me, I would run away from them with legs that felt brand new.

Recognize that if you run long enough, setbacks will happen and some struggle is inevitable.  I’m not suggesting that my exact strategies will work for you.  I discovered that they worked for me by paying attention to my training and learning what helps when I struggle.  So pay attention to what works and put that in the pocket of your short shorts for use when you need it.

Now if your race is in North America and not on the South Bank Road in The Gambia, you may not be quite a lucky as I was.  But there are a lot of joyful sights on the sidelines of a North American race.  There are people cheering.  There are volunteers spending their day with you, handing you water.  There are police officers holding back traffic and recognizing your effort with a smile.  There are folks who have put effort into coloring signs.  Your friends and family may be there.  Think about what you’ll find on the race course and plan to use these small pieces of joy to lighten your feet.  If you tell yourself it’s going to work, it might just work.

Mantras

12 yr old Molamin

I have used mantras during many races- a short sentence repeated over and over again.  It helps me push the sensory data from my legs out of my head.  I concentrate only on the words.  On Day 16, my legs were tired and while I wasn’t injured, of course I was hurting. A young boy, Molamin was running with us.  I was watching him run and saying to myself, “Run for him. Run for him.” During the 9km he ran with us, I remember feeling like I hurt everywhere and nowhere all at once.  My mantra made those 9km disappear easily.

Sometimes I have prepared mantras and sometimes they just pop into my head like “run for him” on Day 16. My aunty Debby sent Team Love4Gambia a message every single day and her mantra was “Do your best and the forget the rest.”  I like that one.

Almamo & I reading Kate's mantras

My self-proclaimed “number one fan” 10 year old Kate Keast wrote me a motivation saying for each of the 17 days that we ran.  One of them resonated particularly well with me and I repeated it to myself often: “Don’t put pressure on yourself. Just do your best and the best will happen.”  I loved this one and loved that it came from my sweet little Kate, a girl wise and caring beyond her years.

Believing in Yourself and Dealing with People

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t or that you are crazy. Well, you don’t have control over what people say to you.  But don’t ever believe it!

A LOT of people thought that we were crazy and that we would never make it toBanjul.  These people lived in both Canada and The Gambia.  But we made it together because we always, always believed that we would make it.

A lot of people in The Gambia could not believe that a woman could do this. And they frequently told me so. Heck, people sometimes didn’t even believe that I was a woman.  Ashley and I were on the Gambian news and people would approach us and say to Ashley: “I saw you and that man on tv.”  Spider’s friends saw us running on Day 16, with their own eyes, and quizzed him after: “are you sure that’s a woman?  Have you seen her body parts?”  I proved these people wrong every single day.

I coach high school runners and tell them:

 “the only person who can tell you that you can’t is yourself.”

I gave this advice to myself in The Gambia.  I gave this advice to my teammates who had never run this long, this far or this much in their lives.  And I successfully coached these runners to run 110km (Ashley), 118km (Spider), 137km (Pa Modou) and 250km (Kebba) next to me.

Recognize that the people telling you that you are crazy are often inactive, spend too much time sitting on the couch, follow a poor diet and are putting themselves at risk for a lifetime of chronic health problems.  They are the crazy ones.

Maybe some of this is helpful, maybe not.  It helped me and my team accomplishment a huge and amazing goal.  At the end of the day, I’m not an overly special or talented runner.  I’m not an elite or a professional.  I am just a regular girl with some talent who worked really hard for 7 months to prepare for a really difficult challenge.  I was determined to reach my goal no matter what.

I wish you the same determination.

Reintegration: Life after Love4Gambia

I’ve been home from Africa for almost 3 weeks now. Anyone with the good fortune to have spent time in Africa will agree with me when I write that it’s harder to come home than it is to go to Africa.

I struggled with whether or not I should continue blogging, unsure if there are people out there who still care about what I have to say now that my team successfully ran across an African nation. I thought about continuing to write in the context of the number of people who come in and out of my life (work, personal, sport) and ask me “how was your trip” and want a 3-word answer. How could I possibly answer in 3 words? But I know that this is what they want so I respond “It was amazing” and they reply “Great!” and go about their day. Then there are the people who only want to know if I saw any spiders or monkeys, if the food was weird and if the toilets were gross.

I also thought about writing in context of my great love for my team, for running, for the NSGA and for The Gambia. At the end of the day, the words are still coming out of me so I’ll continue to write.

Now back to returning home and reintegrating into my life in Nova Scotia. It’s accepted that some travelers will experience culture shock when traveling for extended periods of time in countries that differ greatly from their own. This was my 3rd summer spent on the continent of Africa and I don’t personally experience what you would label “culture shock” in West Africa. Gambian culture is one that I know and love. This summer, while running and spending 24/7 with 3 Gambians, I had the incredible fortune to get know and love their culture even more intimately.

On August 3, I arrived home in Nova Scotia after pretty much a transcendent experience with Gambians who I call family. The reintegration is complicated.

I’m back at work and have been making comments that I know are inappropriate . No need to make them again here- I need to keep my job. But I’m having a hard time feeling bad about them. And I did preface one with “permission to speak freely”…

Young kids in Jakhaly

The thing is, I’ve just spent my summer raising money to help prevent HIV and malaria in West Africa. In 2010, malaria killed more than 1000 kids under age 5 in The Gambia. The 2010 under-5 mortality rate for Gambian children is 106. The under-5 mortality rate is the probability of dying by age 5 per 1000 live births. This means that for every 1000 kids, 106 will die before their 5th birthday. In Canada, the under-5 mortality rate is 6. In The Gambia, 16% of kids under 5 suffer from moderate to severe malnutrition. Only 61% of kids in The Gambia are enrolled in grade one because their parents have to pay school fees. All stats are from Unicef  and WHO.

Ashley and a newborn in Jakhaly

I returned to Canada to a work place concerned with and focused on how 1 in 3 Nova Scotian youth age 2 to 17 are overweight or obese. Sure obesity is a public health problem. Our Minister of Health and Wellness’s most recent press release stated that poor diet and inactivity are putting many young people at risk for a lifetime of chronic disease and other health issues. I don’t disagree.

But when you think about where and how I’ve spent my summer, maybe you can understand why I’m having a hard time reconciling… what is a problem. I have to live and work in Nova Scotia. I have to work on this. I expect progress to be slow.

Last time I got home from Africa, I quit my job. I’ve promised my manager that I won’t do that this time.

I’m not really into running right now. I know that running would help burn off professional angst but I just can’t do it. My desire not to run is about several things.

The primary force making me sit on my patio instead of running is that it doesn’t feel special. My heart is just not in it. My last training cycle, all 7 months of it, was focused on preparing to run across The Gambia, which would be the crowning achievement of my running career. It was. But now that we’ve run into the Atlantic Ocean in Banjul, running doesn’t feel special because it’s not for The Gambia anymore.

Second, the thought of running makes me feel tired and this is fair. I’ve just spent 7 months of my life training for The Gambia and one month running in The Gambia. For these 8 months, my life pretty much revolved around 5 or 6 running days per week. I have been so committed to running in The Gambia that I don’t want to be committed anymore. And because a new race commitment won’t be as special, it makes me feel more tired.

Finally, I miss Pa Modou, Kebba and Spider so much with each running step that I almost don’t want to take any steps because then I’ll miss them more. There’s nothing I can do about missing them. It just is. I can’t make it better because I know that we realistically won’t see each other in the next one or two years. But I can stop running and miss them less.

My coach Cliff wants me to take a page out of the Kenyan and Ethiopian training manuals and take a full month off. I always listen to Cliff so you’ll find me on my patio this month.

While I’m sitting on my patio, I’ll be thinking about our Love4Gambia run. People keep asking me if my accomplishment has sunk in. Or if I’ve processed the entire experience: what I’ve been through, what I’ve achieved. I don’t really have an answer for these people. I don’t know how I am supposed to feel right now or what it will feel like when I’ve “processed” the fact that I’ve run across an entire country, that I’ve gained 3 brothers and a sister, that I’ve raised $34,000. Nothing in my life has prepared me with how to process this.

Erin & Pa Modou. Still connected

All I know is how I feel now. How I felt when I saw the Arch to the city of Banjul with my team. Thank God, I can still close my eyes and feel what I felt when Spider yelled, “I am seeing the Arch!” and it appeared before me and my team and we knew that we had made it together. I don’t ever want that feeling to disappear. I also don’t want to lose the way I feel when I look at the Atlantic Ocean. The way that Pa Modou told me to feel; like the Ocean connects us as much as it separates us.

I’ll run again when I feel ready. My fatigue and loneliness will lessen. In The Gambia, I thought a lot about my Canadian support network. They were running 25 minutes a day to support me. They were running in spirit with me. On certain days on the long road to Banjul, I felt like I could just turn around and see them behind me.

I know that when I am ready to run again, Spider, Kebba and Pa Modou will be right behind me.

A Baraka, Jerejef, Thank You

Dear NSGA and Love4Gambia Supporter,

On Tuesday, July 26, Team Love4Gambia: Erin Poirier, Ashley Sharpe, Pa Modou Sarr, Kebba Suso and Dodou Bah, victoriously jumped into the Atlantic Ocean in Banjul after running 424km over 17 days across the country of The Gambia.  We reached the ocean because we believed that we could do it; we supported and took care of each other every step of this crazy journey; and because we had such vital and wonderful support from you.

Please accept our most sincere thanks for your generous support of our run. Without personal donors, corporate sponsors and in-kind support from the Halifax running community, our team would not have been able to take our first steps from The Gambian border with Senegal.

We learned a lot about the human body and spirit on our 424km road to Banjul. I was getting stronger and faster each day.  My body was able to do it. I ran more kilometers with my teammates than I did solo. The heat (37-42 degrees) never impacted my running performance because I chose not to let it. Still, it was far from easy. Sometimes we hurt and were tired. But each time we were joined by children and youth, all traces of fatigue and pain vanished.  We were running for these kids, for NSGA programs that impact their lives. With them running next to us, we felt like we could fly.

Many Nova Scotians tell me that they could never run as far as I did or in the heat that I ran in. I think that maybe these people just haven’t put themselves in a situation where they are determined to reach their goal- no matter what. I am just a regular girl with some talent for running who worked really hard for 7 months to prepare for a really difficult challenge. I was going to run to the Atlantic Ocean in Banjul, no matter what. I never once doubted that I would get to the ocean.  Managing 42 degree heat was all about being strong.  The human body will allow you to be strong enough if you will it to be strong enough.

I arrived home with something amazing inside me- what we achieved together when we ran into the Atlantic Ocean in Banjul. We raised more than $34,000 that will support Pa Modou, Kebba and our NSGA Gambia staff as they continue our lifesaving work in the field: keeping kids alive. But I also returned home with something missing: my team.  I’m back on the roads in Halifax, running, but feel the absence of my Gambian team with each step.

In a conversation from Canada with Pa Modou in The Gambia, he wrote:

“We (the team) are one bunch of sticks that cannot ever be broken into pieces. We are tight together.  We are connected by the Atlantic Ocean as much as it separates us.”

I don’t think that this will be the end for me and my amazing team and our work to support the NSGA. I hope that you’ll continue to support the Nova Scotia-Gambia Association as our story continues to unfold.

With our most sincere gratitude,

Erin Poirier and Team Love4Gambia

 

Legs are the Boss

Day 14

Friday, July 23, 5pm

Ndemban. Nyakassi Jarju’s compound

25km today and 356km run so far!

We are really close!  25km to Brikama on the outskirts of urban Banjul and then about 30km to the finish line.  30km is a guess as we don’t have a reliable map.

I wasn’t really into running this morning but of course knew that I would do it. All I have to do is put my sneakers on and get out of the truck.  My feet, team and spirit take care of the rest.  So that’s what I did.

As I wrote yesterday, most of our time is now spent listening to Spider and Pa Modou playfully quarrel and tease about each other’s tribes.  Along with a lot of trash talk about who will run the most.  Pa was a man on a mission today and ran 25 full km (yea, Pa!!!  CONGRATS!).  Much of the trash talk last night involved each party trying to petition the coach (me) to allow one to somehow harm or dismember the other (methods requested include tripping, poisoning and Fula magic).  Coach rarely gives orders but when she does, everyone listens (i.e. I don’t care how much Gambians dislike Gatorade, if they want to run more than 10km straight, they drink it).  Last night, I forbade one team member from harming another in the name of a foolish testosterone competition.

Alas, it was Serer magic that got Spider today.  At km 17 of our first run, he pulled up.  A toe blister.  Nurse ordered him into the truck for the last 3km.  Pa wins.  For today, anyway.

As for the tribe quarreling, that’s ongoing… Pa, Spider and I ran the first 10km together before Ashley agreed to drive and allow Kebba to join us.  Ten minutes into our run, I started to run between Pa and Spider, hoping it would shut them up!

Everyone on the team has now watched “Running the Sahara” (some more than once) and the guys have a new dream floating in their heads at night. Banjul to Cape Town, South Africa, anyone?  Pa, Spider and Kebba are all in.  Ashley and I will require at least one more female to even the balance if we lace up and pack up the truck for another conquest.

Runner’s Report:

Single black toenail unchanged. Other toes are quiet.

I am so hungry.  Nyakassi’s daughter Awa is a wonderful cook.

My quads and hip flexors are tired.  We did a full set of track workout warm up drills this morning and I felt smoother after that.  Although was thinking that if I felt the way that I felt during drills today while at the track, Cliff would send me home.

Around km 15, I was thinking about my stride and running slow. Most of our running is at 6min/km pace.  My runners know me, Miss Consistency, so unless kids are running with us and we slow for them, we are almost always 2 hours for 20k and 30 minutes for 5km.  As a runner trained by Cliff, I can tell you my precise paces for long run, recovery run, tempo, threshold, vo2max.  None of these are slower than 5:40/km.  Because I am running slower than usual, I’m not getting the power from toe off and swing-through that I usually do.  I considered today that my hip flexors are working extra hard to pull my leg through each stride.  I picked up the pace for the last 10km of our running today and it felt SO good.

Feeling good is short lasting.  I’m sore at rest now but it’s a happy sore.  Banjul is calling from very near.

Our team’s most sincere thanks for your support from Canada.  When we have internet, we read our messages together.

The Rope. Day 13.

Thursday, July 21, 2011- you are getting this late, there was no internet in Bwiam.
Day 13. 25km. 331 km achieved!
Bwiam Lodge. 4:00pm. Too hot to sleep. Would run an extra 25km to have electricity before 6pm and for longer than 6 hours.

The team loves my analogy of tying a rope to the runner next to you and letting him/her pull you along. Today the rope is strong and the rope is tight.

Bwiam, our man Kebba’s village, was on the map today. Kebba’s 3 sons: Lamin (15yrs), Seko (13 years) and Sheikh (11 yrs) live in Bwiam with their grandmother where they attend school. Kebba, Spider and I began today’s run together know that we would hit Bwiam around 10km. Kebba said that his boys were excited about the Love4Gambia run but that he hoped that they were in school like they were supposed to be (this is that last week of class in The Gambia).

As we approached Bwiam, we saw Kebba’s kids walking towards us. It was a lovely sight. I think that Kebba’s desire to have them in school quickly dissolved as we neared them. Smiling hugely, they began to run with us. His kids are gorgeous. They are miniature Kebbas. Same charming smile. Same laugh. We were also joined by Kebba’s nephews Lamin, aka “More Fire,” age 6 and Sam age 15 and a friend, Mohammed.

After a full kilometer of running with our 6 newest Love4Gambia teammates, I asked Kebba if we had passed his compound- wondering if the kids were just running home. He replied, “Yes, we passed it. Are you worried about the kids?” I said, “No way, they are not my worry, their Daddy is with them!” Kebba says the boys are fine.

And boy, were they ever fine. They were fueled by happiness and excitement- seeing Daddy after more than 2 weeks. They ran easily next to us. We ran 9 abreast, taking up the whole road. Two kilometers passed. I watched with amazement. I am a youth coach and I’ve never witnessed such beautiful form in a group of young people. They ran quietly, soft on the balls of their feet, arms in perfect position, heads held high and proud. I wished that Cliff could see them. None of them had sneakers on. We learned later than Kebba’s sons were so excited to hear that Daddy was approaching that they ran out of the house with plastic sandals/flip flops on.

We approached 3km with the boys. Little “More Fire” had the most perfect form of them all but he was growing tired. He had also taken off his flip flops and was running barefoot. Little Sheikh, age 11, noticed his cousin was tired. So Sheikh reached out his hand and grabbed More Fire’s hand. Sheikh pulled him out front, just slightly ahead of the rest of us. And that’s where they ran, hand in hand. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen while running.

We stopped to drink 3.5 km into our run with the Suso kids and Kebba put More Fire into the truck with Pa. This tiny 6 year old boy ran 3.5km for Love4Gambia.

The rest of us continued. We put Sheikh into the truck after he ran 5.5km. Yes, you are reading this correctly. Kebba’s 11 year old son ran more than 5km today.

When the day ended, Kebba’s 13 year old middle son, Seku, had run 11.5km. Lamin, Sam and Muhammed, the big boys at 15 years old, all ran 14km.

Ashley wasn’t feeling well today so we left her at Bwiam Lodge and continued the last 15km without her. We established the plan to leave her there first thing this morning. It must be a sign of a strong team that we all felt a little down without our full team intact. We were all a little sad today. I was feeling particularly fatigued in the legs. This was my 6th day running in a row. My legs match my mood out here in The Gambia. When the Suso kids joined us, my legs stopped complaining and I was able to run comfortably.
I had the most intense “I don’t want to” feeling that I’ve had before our second 5k run today. Part of my brain was trying desperately to hit the “off” switch- to cease running operation. I knew that I would do it, I just didn’t want to. I didn’t have my Ashley next to me and I keenly felt her absence. But I looked at the kids and I put my shoes back on and I tied my rope around them and I did it.

Ashley is on the mend, no worries. I am a runner, coach and nurse.

And I am also a woman which has been on my mind since beginning this run. Many Gambians’ reaction to Love4Gambia is “HER?!” along with “a woman can do that!?”

The Gambia is a society traditionally dominated by males and the nation is making great progress towards gender equity. But like many nations, progress travels at its own speed. In sport, the gender gap is visible. Football is a man’s world. The local races feature a shorter distance for women. Boys are more willing to join our run that young girls are.

During certain moments, I can actually see progress. Maybe this is why the grandmamas greet me so joyfully on the road. Maybe they’ve been waiting a long time for a woman to do it.

We ran through the village of Nyoro Jataba, just before Kalagi this week and a group of boys and girls joined us to run about 600m. A pretty little girl, about 6 years old, began to run next me. I often weave through these groups of kids and did so on this day but this pretty little girl followed me so that she could stay next to me. I’ll never forget what she looked like: green and yellow dress, plastic sandals, hair in little braids like the crown of the Statue of Liberty. She was looking up at me with an expression that I can’t do justice in words. But it was along the lines of, “wow, a girl can do this.” I hope she remembers our run together as she grows up in this society where the balance tips to male. A woman can do it.

Namaste,
Erin

From Ashley:

Small things can make such a big impact on you.
This week, during a recovery run, I stopped running at 3km and I walked to cool down. I was walking along the last farm in the village when I heard “How are you?” from across the farm field. There was no toubab… just “How are you?” I replied, “I’m fine, how are you?” The little girl yelled back, “Good!” At that point I had just finished the bottle of water I was drinking. I held it up and said, “Do you want the bottle?” The little girl ran so excitedly, giggling and shrieking in delight to come and fetch it that I developed a huge pang of sadness and guilt in my heart.

In Canada, it would be extremely insulting to offer anyone, in any social situation, an empty plastic bottle. Here, this sweet little girl greeted me so politely, took the bottle and said “Thank you!” She didn’t have enough English to understand when I asked her name, but she smiled brightly, showed me the seeds she was carrying in her shirt and said “Couscous!” I left her behind to continue planting her couscous seeds as I tried not to cry. These are the type of things that make a trip like this change you.

Kebba get his first 25 KM!!!!!! Banjul calling louder…Spider welcomed.

Post by Pa Modou

Wednesday 20^th July 2011, Kalagi River Site Camp

Day 12

No of kilo meters covered: 306 km!!!!!!

If there is anything I feel proud of doing at the moment that will definitely be to wake up in the morning, put on my sneakers, pack the trunk of the truck with the bags and daily necessities like water etc and be in that front seat of the truck whiles I eat my morning TAPALAPA (local bread) with peanut butter or margarine and the usual AKON keeps me singing all the way to the starting point of the day’s run.

NEWS!!!!!!

Today, the love4Gambia crew welcomes SPIDERMAN on the truck to the starting point mark and having heard a lot about Spiderman who I was made to understand defeated Erin on the beach on a race about 4 years back, I couldn’t really imagine how he (Spider) runs because having seen our runner (Erin) run 25km everyday and not only that but 31km on her birthday and looks like she needs more Kms for the day, I said to myself “let’s see what he can do…” .

We are back to the tar road and this time it will be with us all through to Banjul to the finishing line!!! Cathy we waiting on your 5km, No excuses… hahaha…

KEBBA’S 25KM AND OTHERS…

The run today was really an amazing one with series of surprises and record breakings. On the run I must say we all have our records and always thinking of breaking them and this time around it was Kebba Suso who ran all 25km of the day of course not without been stubborn like myself as I was branded by the last blog author….. 🙂 (Erin… Shhhhhhh!) Kebba was able to break his record of 17km to get all 25km which made him crowned as the new boss for the day deposing me from the throne but not long before Ashley said “until 2400hours!!!!” . At dinner time Kebba was struggling to make sure he gets the best out of his throne before the expiry of his throne by midnight by threatening to send some of us to bed early if we go against him at any point especially the nurse Ashley…Shhhhhh! Tell you what they are like brother and sister, always on opposite ends…hahaha. Spider was amazing as I observe him closely with Erin on the road trying to see if I will see anything like a competition trying to develop on but I guess they reminded themselves that we are heading to Banjul and we need not to use ourselves too much… (NEVER MIND!!!! I will arrange another race for them after the run but to tell you the truth I will go for Erin to win. Go Erin!!!!!). Spider got his first day run and 25km and have really added up to the team, the run was all not very quiet with the clapping and dancing whiles running which was spearheaded by Spider and Kebba as the children in the community follow suit.

Yoga was on by break time and our instructor Rubbie (Erin) NAMASTE!! Took us through with some small children on the warriors… It looks like the children could do it more than the big boys, strange!!!

Focus on our runner.

Erin has been overall ok today and has been always smiling at everyone as usual. Sometimes I look at her and say to myself, she is the most daring lady on earth in running across the Gambia but again I always remember that we have to do our best and forget the rest!!!!. She hates it to be told she did it but instead we as a team did it, what a lady. Go Erin gooooo….

Now to my last bit for my first blog, Ashley has been practicing some dancing moves for the finishing line and with the way she is taking it am quite sure the debriefings will be an excellent place to showcase her moves…

Love4Gambia run “YES WE CAN”

NAMASTE!!!!

Hot in Africa: a list + Pa’s running

Day 11. 25km today, 256km total!  Banjul Calling!

Kalagi River Camp, 5pm

Today was a really strong day for me.  I easily got into my groove where time disappears and I met my fluid/get target with just a moderate amount of work.

I didn’t have any kids or mamas running with me today but I did have Pa Modou Super Sarr!  Pa ran a HALF MARATHON today!!! 22km total in fact.

I am so proud of him.  This achievement was a pleasant surprise to me and having him continue to push next to me made my running so easy. In my opinion, Pa conquered his first half marathon distance with a perfect mix these 5 variables: (1) athleticism (2) raw running talent (3) stubbornness (4) willpower: Banjul is calling and each step brings us close (5) competitiveness: desire to beat Kebba to this milestone.

One day this week during rest, I was lying under a tree on a farm and the rest of the team was in the truck- it was the day I was sick. A male farmer and his donkey cart came riding towards me and the farmer was yelling really loudly in Mandinka.  I didn’t move an inch, I wanted to die.  The guys said later that I was lying in the direct path that the donkey always takes onto the road and the donkey was quite inclined to stubbornly take his natural path to the road and run me over.  Obviously, the guys and the farmer stopping this collision from occurring.  I told Kebba and Pa today that they are stubborn just like this donkey J  Ashley and I have both given up trying to encourage them to use common sense when deciding how far to run each day.

Stubborn or not, huge congrats to Pa for his running strength today and the strength he shared with me.  I haven’t run a single step alone since my birthday.

Body report:

My legs were really comfortable today. I’ve just run 100km in 4 days.  I am as surprised as you.  They are just willing to do the work. My toe blister has somehow healed. The only tight spot is on the arch of my left foot.  I stopped wearing my arch molds (hard insoles) because I was concerned that they were making my right knee hurt. My right knee is no longer hurting. My left foot rolls in slightly and I’m not concerned about this tightness in the arch- I’ve been rolling it with a tennis ball. We are also back on the dirt road which has been nice to legs.

I haven’t posted my Garmin data in quite a few days because it requires a lot of internet time and the computer is hot. Additionally, it seems that my computer and Garmin are no longer communicating to each other and I can’t fix this without internet juice.

My weight is slightly down at 117 lb today after being sick 2 days ago. I just ate 3 chocolate bars.

To round out today’s post, Ashley and I have prepared an “it’s so hot” list.  I’ll preface this by telling you that I am dealing really well with the heat while running. My body’s cooling system operates very well and the heat isn’t the challenge that I thought it would be.  That being said, we are hot the rest of the non-running day. Hot like this:

1. It’s so hot that Ashley and I are wearing pajamas/underwear at present and we spend most of our non-running day this like in the privacy of our room
2. It’s so hot that while at our last base camp in Soma, where there is no electricity during the day, the shower water felt hot because the sun heats the water in the pipes so much
3. It’s so hot that I need to type this post in a word document and post it on the internet a few hours later because the laptop emits so much heat that you can only sit with it for 15 minutes at a time
4. It’s so hot that Ashley can’t apply nailpolish to her toes properly because it dries with each swipe
5. It’s so hot that sometimes I can’t run with my sunglasses on because they trap heat behind them
6. It’s so hot that even Kebba is hot
7. There isn’t enough Vaseline in Africa to keep my skin intact. Chafing, chafing, chafing. Toes. Shoulders from hydration pack. Shirt pockets. Armpits.  I will never laugh at my Nova Scotia boys again about the bloody shirt run
8. It’s so hot that we try not to take our 20 minute water breaks in villages because the people and the huts raise the air temperature
9. It’s so hot that the puddles emit heat as you run over
10. It’s so hot that a ponytail or bun is required. I tried to wear my hair in pigtails once and the heat under each pigtail was too much to handle

So Canadians, stay cool and keep sending us your love.  We love your messages.

 

With Mama Africas Banjul is Calling Louder

Monday, July 19, 2011

Day 10. 25km run today, 231km total!

A very good day following a very bad running day.  Yalla bahna.

5:00pm. Soma TransGambia Lodge. Chillin’ in room with Ashley, Pa + Binta Jallow

A big day for my behaving body parts and a bigger day for Ashley!  Ashley started today’s run with me this morning, having beaten Pa out of the truck with shoelaces tied first. We began running incredibly long hills and realized that perhaps Pa wasn’t tying his laces on purpose.

Ashley ran 10km for the first time 2 days ago in 2 separate runs.  Starting on these long hills was good for both of us.  Working hard on the hills meant less mental focus devoted to obsessing over my gut. Working hard for Ashley meant the time passed more quickly for her. We stopped to water at 20 minutes and Ashley said that she would continue for another 20 minutes.  I was pleasantly surprised. When we stopped at 40 minutes, I told her that she was SO CLOSE to 10km, she should just continue.

At this point, 90% of run had been uphill- I kid you not.  We would get to the top of a hill and be greeted by more uphill.  The weather beginning was humid and Yalla Bahna, the sun began burning the humidity off.  I pulled Ashley with me up hill after hill. Pa +Kebba were cheering crazily in the truck, “Go Ashley, go Ashley, get to 10km!”  We reached a village and in a village, the work never feels so hard.  I was happy for Ashley, the village would help. We reached 9km.  I didn’t tell her.

Then she said she wanted to stop and I said NO!  You only have 725m left!  I began talking non-stop.  And then a beautiful thing happened.  We were approaching women walking to work at the market in Soma (next town).  An older woman saw us and began freaking out!  Laughing! Yelling!  Cheering! Waving her arms!  And she began to run with us. “Nimbarra! Nimbarra” I said meaning “hard work” in Mandinka. The mama ran more.  This beautiful woman helped Ashley finish the last 200m.  She did it, with the mama: 10km.

We were soon surrounded by grandmothers and mothers going to work.  They were so pleased with us, wanting hugs and handshakes. I love the kids out here but these Mamas, I love them the most.

I am so proud of Ashley.  Pa is so proud of Ashley. Kebba is so proud of Ashley.  She ran her 10km in 60:05 in humidity and 35+ degrees on a road that was 90% uphill.

Kebba and I continued easily from km 10-20. Kebba said he was inspired by Ashley’s 10km accomplishment.  Today was hot, topping 40.

We rested under a tree at a farm in Kaif. We soon had an audience.  Additionally, the president’s convoy was about to drive through very soon (in African time, in about 2 hours) so at 11am, the women came from the farm field and began singing and drumming for the president.

I did my own recovery thing for about an hour and then was ready to have some fun. I had said that we had to do yoga at rest so I pulled my team up from the blanket and we began our sun salutations to the wonder of our audience.  We went through 2 sun salutations and then I invited the kids to join.  I lined them up, about 12 of them, and told them to follow me.  To my great delight, they practiced with us for about 15 minutes.  Strong kids, they caught on very well! They told me that they loved it.  And told me, “we like you.”

Then it was the Mama farmers’ turn to instruct.  They made a circle and thrust their farming tools into Ashley and I’s hands and had a great time laughing at us using the hoe. They beat out a rhythm on their drum (plastic jug) for us to work to.  Perfection.

My new yoga pupils began our second run with us. I discovered a new and interesting fact about my youngest Gambian running partners yesterday.  I’m always concerned about them running too far from their home and always tell them to stop running at the outskirt of their village. Sometimes Pa or Kebba need to translate my “cease running” order.  Often the kids are barefoot and I worry about them walking more than a km home. Yesterday, 4 young boys began our second run with us and I waved goodbye to them at the outskirt of their village, 1 kilometer after we began running.  I continued to run up and over a big hill and stopped for water at the 2km mark, just over the crest of the hill.  As I stood there drinking, the 4 boys crested the hill and ran towards me.  I thought they had stopped at 1km when I waved goodbye.  They were still running after me. Gambian children will indeed run until you tell them to stop.  Maybe even all the way to Banjul, who knows?  I made sure I told the kids to stop today.

Halfway through run #2, Ashley and I ran behind a tree on a farm to pee. When we returned to the truck, the women working the farm were at Pa’s window.  Kebba had been telling them about my run.  They began speaking to me really rapidly in Mandinka and grabbing for my hands and trying to hug me.  Kebba translated.  They were telling me that they had very little and that their kids badly needed the education that I was running for and that they want to thank me.  The oldest woman had tears in her eyes.  So did I.

The president’s convoy caught up and passed us around the 24km mark of our day. I was happy for Kebba, I knew that he wanted them to drive by us while we were running.

Much love to everyone at home and thanks to the ones leaving us messages, you help keep us strong.

Namaste,

erin

“Stand By Me”

July 13, 2011

Day 6 of running. 150km done!

Jakhaly, 9:30pm

Ashley and I have started singing while running. She had “Stand by Me” on her ipod and we’ve changed to words to “Run with Me” and we sing this at the 1km mark of the second 5km run.

I took 6 days of running for me to turn my team into distance runners! I ran 25km today and not a single step alone. Pa ran the first 10km with me. The first run is the most coveted among the team and there is a lot of jostling that happens to decide who gets to run it. Pa was the winner today. Ashley joined from 9km through 14km. Kebba was getting really antsy in the truck, wanting to run. I joked at 9km that Pa was going to run until 20km and Kebba said, “Well then I’ll have to abandon the truck! I must join!” Namaste.

Legs are good today. No tape on adductor muscles and they are functioning just like adductor muscles are supposed too. Blister on left foot is a mess but is not hurting. Right toe blister gone into submission, looks and feels fine. Stomach very cooperative today. Ate half an agara (? Spelling: beans rolled into balls and fried) sandwich at rest under a mango tree on the outskirts of Brikamaba.

Everyday brings a new and wonderful surprise. Today around 12km we were running through rice farms and saw 6 women walking across the field with buckets on their head. They were heading to work for the day. We then got close to us, they began cheering and when close enough, they began to shake my hand and hug me. They were old grandmothers, in their 70s. They had heard that we were coming and were really happy to see us. They said that they wanted to run too. Then they began running in the spot, 70 year old arms swinging back and forth, buckets perched gracefully on their old heads. When we continued running, I felt like I could fly.

We were joined by children for most of the last 5km. A group of young boys hung around our rest blanket in Brikamaba and they joined first. The youngest was about 3 years old, named after the president, and even he ran about 500m! When we arrived in the next village, Jakhaly, it was lunchtime and elementary school kids joined us. They love to chant “Love4Gambia!” Then we were joined by high school youth. Kebba told them that we were running for Peer Health Education and they said they knew their peer health team. They ran about 1km with us to the outskirt of Jakhaly and we told them to stop at the tree marking the end of the village. We drank some water and then we continued up the hill. And these youth continued with us. I turned around and they were still running. About 14 of them. Even though we told them to stop, even though it was hot, around 37, and they were all wearing school uniforms. Even though many of them were barefoot and the pavement is very hot at 1pm. Two boys and two girls finished the 5km with us. How lucky are we?

I will be on Breakfast Television tomorrow, Thursday, at 8:15 AST. I recorded my interview on the phone today while under a tree in Jakhaly, surrounded by a curious audience of kids from Jakhaly Lower Cycle School (elementary).

Tomorrow, Thursday July 14 is my birthday. We will be running 31km for my age, 31 years. Internet time is really limited and I can’t read many facebook messages. But if you would like to wish me happy birthday, I would love for you to donate $31 to Love4Gambia. Or $310. Just click on the “donate now” button on the homepage.

Much love,
Erin